Asiana Airlines is a South Korean airline based in Seoul. It is second in size to national carrier Korean Air.Asiana has recently tried to expand its presence in the United States and joined the Star Alliance, which is anchored in the U.S. by United Airlines.Its website says its Boeing 777s can carry up to 300 passengers. Asiana flies 12 B777-200ER twin-engine jets, which can fly 14 hours non-stop. The airline operates 79 aircraft and flies 91 international routes to 71 cities in 23 countries.The 777-200 is a long-range plane from Boeing. The twin-engine aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more, from one continent to another.In another crash of a Boeing 777-200ER, British Airways flight 38 crashed just short of the runway at London's Heathrow on Jan. 17, 2008. That crash had no fatalities, but dozens were injured. The crash was blamed on ice crystals clogging the fuel line on a long flight from Beijing.The FAA investigated two accidents involving Asiana within weeks of one another in November 1998.In the first incident, on Nov. 11, 1998, an Asiana plane with 220 passengers and 18 crew aboard skidded into a parked plane after landing at Anchorage International Airport in Alaska. Federal investigators blamed the pilot for excessive taxi speed and inadequate maneuvering to avoid the parked plane.On Nov. 30, 1998, an Asiana cargo plane struck and toppled a crane in the safety zone next to the taxiway after it landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The FAA faulted the co-pilot for misjudging the wing's clearance.